NBCUniversal Formats has partnered with Dubai and Cairo-based production company S Productions on the first international adaptation of comedy drama series “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce,” which will air on prominent Dubai-based broadcaster MBC.
The Arabic-language redo, retitled “45 Rules of Divorce,” is being produced by S Productions in association with Universal Studio Group for both MBC’s MBC4 channel and its Shahid streaming platform.
The Arabic “Divorce” adaptation stars Egyptian actress Injy Al Moqaddem (“Al Me’adeya”) as Farida Al-Shazly, a successful marriage self-help writer, who goes through a divorce and delicately handles every element of it. In the process, Farida finds herself and falls in love with her newly single life, her friends and her freedom.
Though Islam allows divorce, it is discouraged because when it’s initiated by women, they often face poverty as a consequence of losing all assets. Yet across the Arab world, divorces are on the rise, according to several indicators including the United Arab Emirates Statistics Centre.
“In our motivation to promote women’s empowerment and encourage dialogue around the timely topic of separation, we foresee series like ’45 Rules of Divorce’ paving the way for transformation in our society,” said Saliee Waly, CEO of S Productions.
“This series will inspire our audience to start a dialogue around taking control of one’s life,” she added. “We aim to highlight the idea that women are not defined by who they marry. Even more, the humorous take of it all makes it easier to accept.”
Said Enrique Guillén, executive VP of commercial strategy and international development at Universal Studio Group: “’45 Rules of Divorce’ is a bold, witty and warm-hearted comedy that we are thrilled to bring to Middle Eastern audiences. We are incredibly proud that this new Arabic-language series represents the first international version of our successful ‘Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce’ format.”
“Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” was created by Marti Noxon and produced by UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group, for Bravo. The hit comedy-drama inspired by the book “Girlfriend’s Guide” by Vicki Lovine ran on Bravo in the U.S. for five seasons between 2014-2018.
